Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 209 Counties and Western Regions

Yongle fifth year, the third day of July.

Two minutes at the beginning of the afternoon.

The palace complex of the Ming Dynasty Palace shines with dazzling brilliance under the scorching sun.

The wisps of water vapor evaporated in the air due to the high temperature seemed to distort the space.

At this time, inside the Wenhua Hall.

As the supervisor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu sat on the dragon chair behind the imperial table and listened quietly to Wang Jinghong's account of the final story of the "Battle of Xilan Mountain in the Ming Dynasty".

After the Ming army captured the city of Kandy, the royal capital of the Ceylon Mountain Kingdom, the soldiers of the Ceylon Mountain Kingdom who were sent outside by Ariel Kunel to fight fiercely with Hou Xian and other Ming troops who stayed behind learned that the city of Kandy had changed hands and quickly withdrew some of their troops. The troops of the Daming Navy attacked the port and quickly rushed back to the royal city to carry out rescue.

At the same time, Wang Jinghong completed the task of donating temples and erecting the Ceylon Mountain Monument in Kandy City.

The upper part of the stele is engraved with the distinctive Chinese pattern of two dragons playing with pearls. The lower part is engraved with inscriptions in Chinese characters, Ceylon Mountain script, and Persian characters. It records in detail that the fleet led by Wang Jinghong came to the Kingdom of Ceylon Mountain. The scenes of Buddhist temples giving alms, enshrining Buddha statues and erecting monuments.

This stele was later called Wang Jinghong's "Stele of Giving to the Buddhist Temple in Mount Xilan". The Chinese character part of the stele consists of eleven lines from right to left, totaling 280 five Chinese characters. The content is: "The Ming Emperor sent eunuchs Wang Jinghong, Hou Xian and others to announce To the Buddha, the World-Honored One, I say: I look up to the compassionate Lord, whose enlightenment is vast, whose path is profound and mysterious, whose Dharma helps all people..."

Outside the city, the three highest commanders of the Ceylon Mountain Army, Prince Nayan, General Parada, and Deputy General Talay, in order to recapture the royal city as soon as possible and rescue the king, after discussion, they sent cavalry to quickly send messages to the surrounding states. , and soon gathered [-] troops to heavily surround the Ming army in Kandy City.

Wang Jinghong led the Ming army and relied on the strong defense of Kandy City to resist the siege of [-] enemy troops.

Despite the huge disparity in strength between the two sides, the Ming army persisted for six days and managed to defend the city of Kandy with its strong combat power.

In fact, the reason why the Ming army was able to hold on for so long was not only because all the soldiers were elite, but also because they had the support of the sage Yebanana from the royal family of the Ceylon Mountains and the old Queen Mother.

One of these two people is a famous royal sage in the royal family, and the other is a highly respected late king and queen.

They are all people with a deep understanding of righteousness. They all know very well what the Ming Dynasty fleet is doing overseas. They know that Wang Jinghong's trip is not to seize Mount Ceylon, but to exchange trade.

The two firmly believed that if Wang Jinghong and other Ming troops died in the battle on Mount Ceylon, His Majesty the Ming Emperor would be furious and would definitely send a fleet to raze the entire Mount Ceylon to the ground with infinitely powerful divine artillery, leaving no chickens or dogs behind.

For the long-term plan, they must temporarily side with Wang Jinghong and mobilize the people in Kandy City to provide food and grass for the Ming army, and even assist the Ming army in defending the city.

When the city was defended until the evening of the sixth day, Wang Jinghong decided to take Ariel Kunel and his family as hostages, lead the Ming army to break out, and then rendezvous with the fleet on the coast.

His decision was supported by soldiers such as Li Shi and He Yizong.

So, in the early morning of the seventh day, Wang Jinghong led the Ming army and led the Ceylon king Ariel Kunel, suddenly opened the gate of Kandy City, used firecrackers as cover, and broke through the siege.

Seeing that their king was kidnapped by the Ming army, Nayan, Prada, Talay and other Ceylon soldiers would not give up and led their soldiers in hot pursuit.

Wang Jinghong, Li Shi, He Yizong and other Ming army officers and soldiers, under the predicament of being surrounded by enemies, forced Ariel Kuner and his family to retreat while fighting, fighting and leaving.

While clearing away the giant trees blocking the road, they set up rearguards to block the enemy's pursuers.

The official road from Kandy City to the port where the fleet is located is about twenty miles.

But on this road, the soldiers of the Ming army fought and walked for a full day. They did not arrive at the port until after sunset, boarded a sea ship, and escaped from danger.

"You led the Ming army and dared to break out of the siege when surrounded by more than ten times the enemy. You were also able to bring a large number of prisoners back to the ship safely. It can be seen that the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in Mount Ceylon is mediocre, and they are no match for our elite Ming army."

Zhu Gaoxu sighed after listening to Wang Jinghong's story.

"What His Highness said is that the soldiers in Mount Ceylon are most afraid of our muskets. The general named Ta Lei under Ya Lie was shot and killed while chasing us." Wang Jinghong continued.

Zhu Gaoxu asked: "How many of our soldiers were killed by Yalie's soldiers in this battle?"

Wang Jinghong answered truthfully: "Three hundred and five people."

"Why didn't you kill Yalie then and bury him with our Ming army soldiers?"

Zhu Gaoxu's face darkened and he asked.

Wang Jinghong bowed and said: "Your Highness, please calm down. Although Yalie's crime was extremely heinous, I was worried that killing the king of another country without authorization on the territory of another country would probably cause our country to lose its moral integrity and turn Ming Dynasty into an overseas power."

"Since ancient times, murder must be paid with life, and debts must be paid with money!"

Zhu Gaoxu said in a deep voice: "Perhaps it is your indecisiveness that makes Yalie so arrogant."

Wang Jinghong said slowly: "Wei Chen dare not forget His Highness's earnest teachings. The purpose of patrolling is to show kindness to Bude. Therefore, before landing on the coast of Mount Ceylon, Wei Chen had already sent an envoy to inform the West about Ya Lie's crimes." All countries. After this battle, the minister specially sent an envoy to tell the surrounding countries how Yalie ambushed us, in order to let morality and justice be on the side of our Ming Dynasty, and to demonstrate the power of our Ming Dynasty overseas. "

"But you allowed the heroic souls of my [-] soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to stay overseas!"

Of course Zhu Gaoxu understood that everything Wang Jinghong did was in compliance with his previous instructions, that is, when using foreign troops, the troops must be well-known and occupy the moral high ground, otherwise overseas countries will think that Ming Dynasty is a powerful force.

But he was a living person after all. When he learned that Ming soldiers had died overseas, anger naturally arose in his heart.

"Wang Jinghong, you have to remember that no amount of gold and silver can buy a human life, let alone the lives of our Ming soldiers are priceless! The barbarians fear power but not virtue. They must be measured in repaying evil with kindness, and they must tolerate and retreat blindly. It will make people in the world think that Ming Dynasty is weak and can be bullied, and it will destroy the power of the Ming Dynasty."

After Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment, he stood up and walked around the imperial table, came to Wang Jinghong, and asked again: "Next time, if there are small foreign countries that are disrespectful to our Ming Navy, as long as you have a good reason, don't worry too much." If you want more, beat the opponent until he kneels down and beg for mercy, and then we’ll talk about other things!”

"Wei Chen understands." Wang Jinghong bowed and bowed.

Then, Zhu Gaoxu turned around, sat back on the dragon chair, and said loudly: "I have my own opinions on how to deal with Yalie and the Ceylon Mountain Kingdom. You can go down and rest first."

After Wang Jinghong retired, Qi Tai, the Minister of War, who had been waiting for a long time, bowed and walked into the hall with a military newspaper.

"Your Majesty, Qi Tai, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince." Qi Tai bowed and saluted.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Pingshen."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After Qi Tai got up, he presented a copy of the memorial and said: "Your Majesty has sent someone from Beidu to deliver the military report submitted by the Marquis of Xining. Please read it."

Kang Ping walked over to take the memorial, bowed and walked quickly to the imperial table, and presented it to Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu opened the memorial and found that it was Song Sheng, the Marquis of Xining, the general who conquered the west, who had written a successful report to Zhu Di.

Song Sheng mentioned in the victory report that since the news of Zhu Di's personal expedition to Mobei and the defeat of Arutai's troops spread to the Western Regions a month ago, whenever the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers came, all the forces in the Western Regions would surrender. At present, all the forces in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains To surrender.

Zhu Gaoxu stood up suddenly with the news in hand and walked down the platform excitedly.

He came to the main hall and stopped in front of Qi Tai. He did not hide the joy in his heart and said excitedly: "Okay! From the fall of the Anxi and Beiting Protectorate in the third year of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty to today when our officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty regained To the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, the Western Regions, which had left the Central Plains Dynasty for nearly 600 years, have finally returned! Great!" After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, Tubo invaded in large numbers and occupied the city of Chang'an for half a month.

Later, Pugu Huai'en rebelled, and Tubo sent troops directly from Longyou into Hexi, occupying the two territories of Longyou and Hexi. From then on, the Hexi Corridor was cut off, and the Central Plains was cut off from the Western Regions.

During the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties, the Western Regions had never been truly recovered by the Central Plains dynasty.

Even after Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, the Western Regions were still under the rule of the Chagatai Khanate and were not owned by the Central Plains Dynasty.

It is not until now that the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have recovered the Western Regions that the Western Regions have truly returned to the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty.

When Zhu Gaoxu said this, he looked at Qi Tai and ordered: "Pass on Gu's edict and report this news to the world from your residence. Gu will let all the people in the world know that the conquering army has recovered the Western Regions! Our Ming Dynasty has no shortage of gold!"

The next day.

early morning.

Wenhua Hall.

"After my father's personal expedition, the situation in the Western Region is now very good. Wusizang and Duogan are connected to the Peacock Peninsula to the southwest, the Western Region to the north, and Sichuan and Yunnan to the east. Their positions are extremely important. I am wondering whether I should consider expanding my official vassal. Permissions, what do you think?"

Zhuo Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, said: "Your Highness's intention is really a great blessing for the border. I propose that we can set up guard stations and build cities in the jurisdictions of Wusizang and Duogandu."

"In the fifth year of Hongwu, Wu Si Zang was attached. In the following year, Emperor Taizu appointed Wu Si Zang Guards, which belonged to Xi'an Xingdu Division. In the seventh year, he was promoted to the Xingdu Commandery Division and governed Wu Si Zang (later Lhasa). In the first year of Yongle, In order to clarify the subordinate relationship between the Usi Zangxing Dusi and the three Xingdu Si of Anbuluo, Niuerzongzhai and Lingsiben, His Majesty issued an imperial edict to change the Wusi Zangdu Xingdu Commandery Division to the Wusi Zangdu Commandery Division."

Qi Tai, the minister of the Ministry of War, said: "In the sixth year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu established Duogan Guards, which belonged to the Xingdu Division of Xi'an. In the following year, he was promoted to the Commanding and Envoy Division of the capital and governed Lingzang (later the northwest Russian branch of Dege County, Sichuan). Therefore, I reported Please, Your Highness, send Han people to be the commanders of the internal defense posts in Wusizang and Duogandu jurisdictions, so that we will not be afraid of rebellion by foreign tribes."

In terms of basic functions and official positions, there is basically no difference between the Du Commander Department and the Xing Du Commander Department.

But in terms of setting reasons, there are essential differences between the two.

The Capital Command and Envoy Division was a military office that must be established in all provinces of the Ming Dynasty and was set up in important border areas. The Xingdu Command and Envoy Division was established to assist the Capital Division and was usually only established in provinces near the border.

For example, at the junction of the two provinces of Fujian, various ethnic groups live together and the struggle situation is complicated. Shaanxi and Shanxi are border provinces with a wide range of defense areas. This is generally the reason why the Huguang Xingdu Division and Sichuan Xingdu Division were later established.

"No, on the contrary, I think that local eminent monks should serve as commanders, magistrates and other officials of the guard. Han people can serve as commanders, magistrates and other assistant officers there, so that they will not arouse the resentment of the locals. .”

Zhu Gaoxu had a clear understanding of the management of Wusizang and Duogan areas. After listening to Qitai's suggestion, he immediately vetoed it.

He considered that the civil and military ministers represented by Qitai might not understand his and Zhu Di's intentions, and then added: "Gu plans to follow the example of his father in edicting to build Yongning Temple on the shore of Heilongjiang, within the jurisdiction of Wusi Zang and Duogan. The temples built by the various health offices were named Yongning Temple."

“Moreover, the temple’s inscriptions should use both Chinese and Tibetan to describe the establishment process of Wusizang and Duogan Dusi, as well as the officials sent by the imperial court to set up guard posts and help the people in the two places build bridges and roads, build canals and dig wells. Details of irrigating farmland and improving production.”

Qitai and other ministers in the palace quickly recalled the story that Zhu Di had sent an imperial envoy to Nurgan to build Yongning Temple.

In July of the first year of Yongle, Zhu Di issued an edict to establish the Nurgan Capital Command Department, the local government office that governed the Heilongjiang and Ussuri River basins in the Nurgan area.

Since then, Zhu Di has repeatedly sent the Jurchen eunuch Wu Yixin (also Shiha) as an imperial eunuch to Nurgan Dusi to inspect and proclaim and appease the local people in order to strengthen the management of this area.

In the fourth year of Yongle, Wu Yi followed Zhu Di's order and during his third inspection of the Nurgan capital, he built a temple dedicated to Guanyin on the basis of the original Guanyin Hall near the headquarters of the Nurgan capital commander. May the land of Nurgan be peaceful and happy forever, hence the name "Yongning Temple".

After the Yongning Temple was built, Wu Yixin built a stone tablet and erected a stone tablet in front of the temple with the inscription "Yongning Temple Records", which recorded the historical fact that the Ming Dynasty established the Nurgan Dusi, and that Wu Yixin himself was ordered by Emperor Yongle to The first two visits to Nurgan were to comfort the people of various tribes and the process of building Yongning Temple.

The six-character mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" is engraved on the left and right sides of this stone tablet in four languages: Han, Jurchen, Mongolian and Tibetan.

"Your Highness is wise."

Qi Tai, Zhuo Jing and others were all smart people, and they understood Zhu Gaoxu's intention of "boiling the frog in warm water" in an instant, and immediately said in unison.

"Your Highness, the lamas from Wusizang came to Beijing to worship the day before yesterday. Can your Highness please meet them tomorrow?"

Zheng Ci, the Minister of Rites, bowed and asked.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "We must greet the eminent monk with national etiquette and must not be neglected. You must go to the post station to greet him in person and arrange to be summoned at Fengtian Hall."

"I accept the order," Zheng Ci said respectfully.

Zhu Gaoxu looked around at the ministers in the palace and asked, "Who has anything else to report?"

Qitai bowed and said, "Your Highness, I have something to say."

"Speak." Zhu Gaoxu said.

"It is indeed admirable that His Highness is tolerant and has blessed the world. But within the four seas, gentlemen and villains coexist, and compassion and cunning coexist."

Qi Tai said respectfully: "I believe that we must first establish authority before establishing virtue. A small king of Ceylon Mountain dares to massacre our officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, causing the loss of our national prestige. My Ming Dynasty's policy of being gentle and distant, In the eyes of people like Ariel Kunel, this is just a weak move that can be used to blackmail you. Therefore, I would like to ask Your Highness to kill Ariel Kunel. This will re-establish the majesty of the Tomorrow Dynasty overseas. .”

Zhu Gaoxu asked loudly: "Do you think that the policy of being gentle and distant will make our Ming Dynasty appear weak?"

"Your Highness, what Mr. Qi said makes sense. If we don't kill Yalie, this hatred will be difficult to overcome!"

Zhang Yan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, spoke out.

Zheng Ci, the Minister of Rites, answered: "I second the proposal."

Mo Lin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, bowed down and said: "I second the proposal!"

Zhu Gaoxu did not expect that Qi Tai's words would instantly gain the support of the three ministers.

Among the six ministers, Yu Xin, the minister of the Ministry of Hubu, is recovering at home due to illness. The two ministers of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War followed Zhu Di to the north. There are still three ministers of the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Officials.

At this time, the three major ministers in the court all agreed to kill Yalie Kuner, which immediately made Zhu Gaoxu feel embarrassed.

"If I don't kill Yalie, this hatred will be difficult to quell."

At this moment, the other ministers spoke in agreement.

For a time, in the main hall, voices in favor of killing Yalie could be heard one after another.

"Okay, let's stop here today. We will deal with Yalie's matter after my father comes back."

Zhu Gaoxu did not agree or object, but stood up and said.

PS: We are now collecting the title of the protagonist after he succeeds to the throne. Brothers, please post this chapter and leave a message here. Bow and thank you!
(End of this chapter)